


#ProtectMarinette Squad

by parisique



Series: Clubs of Collège Françoise Dupont [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Mentioned Adrienette, Mentioned Alya Césaire, Mentioned Chloé Bourgeois, Mentioned Lila Rossi, Nino is the president, Protect Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, it's a secret club, no beta we die like men I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23816428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parisique/pseuds/parisique
Summary: Mission statement: We protect Marinette.They protect Marinette, in the little ways. Because she deserves it.
Series: Clubs of Collège Françoise Dupont [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939522
Comments: 47
Kudos: 450





	1. Chapter 1

“Alright, dudes,” Nino said, stepping up to the lectern with a rather serious look on his face.

Immediately, the six other people in the room fell silent and turned to face him.

It was the monthly meeting of the Protect Marinette squad, and as the president and founder, Nino was presiding. He pressed a button on the projector set on Mme. Bustier’s desk and their agenda was projected onto the chalkboard.

Nino didn’t know how Chat Noir - their eighth member, who was absent for this meeting - had managed to get the headmaster to let them use a classroom in the middle of the night once a month, especially since they were a group of students with no adult supervision. But somehow, strings were pulled and here they were. He had to hand it to the superhero, it sure beat having to come up with excuses to everyone’s parents and avoiding any eavesdroppers that might be lingering in any of their houses, as well as outsiders trying to steal any of their Dupain-Cheng leftovers that Marinette’s parents were more than happy to hand over for free, no matter how often they tried to offer to pay.

**#ProtectMarinette Squad Meeting No. 65**

**Agenda:**

**\- The Chloé Situation**

**\- The Lila Situation**

**\- Akumas**

**\- Voting**

“First topic of discussion, Chloé,” Nino said, and everyone nodded in agreement. Even Kagami pursed her lips at the mention of the blonde, and Luka frowned heavily.

“She seems to be getting better,” Nathaneal offered.

“Correction - Marinette is getting better at dealing with her,” Kim said.

“Yeah, she’s been getting better at dealing with Chloé since the whole Queen Bee thing,” Nino noted, eyeing how Adrien was staying stoically silent as he always did during conversations of this topic.

“In that case, I say we should cross it off the list while continuing to keep an eye on things,” Kagami said, “Chloé doesn’t seem to be a very big concern anymore.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Nino made the note on the sheet of paper he had in front of him.

“Moving on to the Lila Situation,” Nino continued, and immediately everyone was frowning. “We obviously know that Lila cannot be trusted anymore.” The other members nodded and grumbled, remembering the one-day expulsion. Adrien in particular looked like he was ready to murder Lila. “For those of us in the class with Lila, we should continue acting cordially towards Lila for the sake of keeping up appearances, but since we know the truth, we can’t trust her or anything she says.”

“It wouldn’t be smart to outright seem distrustful of her,” Adrien said, “because then she might suspect something and take it out on Marinette. And that’s the last thing we want.” The blond picked up a chocolate-chip cookie from the box in front of him and aggressively bit into it.

“Yes, Adrien is right,” Nino agreed, “which brings us into our next topic - risks of Marinette being akumatized. We want to keep those chances as close to zero as possible, so it’s important to continue being good friends to Marinette-” a pointed glance that Adrien somehow missed “-and ensure we’re all valuing her as much as we should be. Any ideas on how we can do that?”

“We could give her a parade,” Kim called, “and carry her around on one of those chairs that four people need to lift in the air - or she could ride on my shoulders!”

“She seems to be a fan of Chat Noir,” Ivan spoke up, “maybe we could start a fan club for him.”

“We could paint a mural in her honor,” Nathaneal offered, “maybe in the courtyard.”

Nodding, Nino jotted all the ideas down as they came up with more - write her a ballad, elect her school president, set up a dinner with Gabriel Agreste (Nino made a face at that one because, well, _Gabriel_ ), sneak into her room and finish all her sewing projects for her.

“Let’s throw her a party,” Kagami suggested once the ideas were slowing down. “One with all her friends, to show her how much we all appreciate her. A small one - a surprise.” Everyone looked at her with rather wide eyes. Kagami stared right back at them.

“That’s genius,” Luka said, “we can make food, and have it be outside - after school, or on the weekend, and -”

“-I can get together streamers and things-”

“-we have a bunch of tables at my house-”

“-I can provide the picnic blankets-”

“-I’ll write her a song-”

“-I’ve been practicing baking, I can make a cake-”

“Okay,” Nino tapped his pencil against the edge of his lectern, “let’s get this under control. Why don’t we talk it over in the groupchat later? Right now, we need to focus on voting and getting home soon.”

Everyone settled down and nodded as Nino set out two buckets with “Prez” and “VP” taped to them on Mme. Bustier’s desk.

“You know the rules,” Nino said as he started handing out sheets of paper and pencils, “this is our annual voting for the president and vice-president of the Protect Marinette squad. We’ll have volunteers for those who want to run, then vote by writing names down and putting them in the right bucket. I’ll tally the votes, and then we can go to bed. In case you’ve forgotten, I’m the current President and Kim is the current VP. Any runners for this year’s President?”

The members all shyly glanced around at each other. Kagami pressed her lips together, but no one raised their hand.

“Sweet,” Nino fist pumped, “six years and counting! Okay, anyone want to challenge Kim for VP?”

This time, Adrien raised his hand, as did Luka. Kim started laughing as the other two boys stared at each other in surprise before their eyes narrowed competitively.

“I’m going to leave both of you in the dust,” Kim smirked.

“Okay, we have Adrien Agreste and Luka Couffaine challenging Le-Chîen Kim for the position of Vice-President,” Nino said, “please write down the name of your preferred candidate on your paper and place them in the appropriate bucket!”

After everyone had dropped their papers in the VP bucket and their pencils in the Prez bucket, Nino started counting the votes.

“Adrien … Luka … Adrien … Kim … Adrien … Adrien … Luka. And the winner is Adrien!” Nino smiled at his best bro as Luka shook his hand and Kim gave him a hearty pat on the back. “Congrats, bro! Now remember to check your phones for the text organizing the party, and we’ll meet back here next month, same time. Now let’s go, meeting adjourned.”

Later, Nino wheeled his lectern home, careful not to spill the bag of leftover goodies on top - perks of being the president. Halfway, Chat Noir stopped by to help him and get filled in on the details of the meeting. He wasn’t too upset about not getting to vote, and when Nino told him that Adrien was the new VP, Chat grinned and said he thought the other blond would do a good job.

“Well, see you around, Nino,” Chat said as they reached Nino’s door, “Thanks for filling me in - sorry I couldn’t make it.”

“It’s cool, man,” Nino told him, “Duty calls, I understand.” _More than you know_ , he thought to himself as he watched Chat Noir vault away.

Another successful meeting done, Nino took a glance at the photo of himself, Alya, Marinette, and Adrien that was taped to his computer monitor. A notification lit up his phone - _Operation: Adrienette meeting, tomorrow, 10.30_. Stifling a groan, Nino swiped it away and flopped onto his bed. Alya would want him to bring his lectern, of course - and they didn’t get free treats from the Dupain-Chengs for those meetings. While the cupcakes Rose usually made were nice, they weren’t Dupain-Cheng chocolate-chip cookies. Still, sweets were sweets, and that night, Nino dreamt of pastry heaven filled with cookies and cakes and macarons and pastries dancing to one of his remixes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the long awaited update!

Something was up.

It all started when Marinette walked into class on Monday. As usual, she was running a little late, so as she hurried up the aisle to her seat, she tripped. She would have fallen flat on her face had Adrien not leapt up from his seat and caught her.

“Th-thanks, Adrien,” she managed, and it was then that the Big Bad Sausage Head decided to open her mouth - namely, Lila.

“Oh, look at Marinette the Klutz,” she said in what everyone else might have taken for an endearing tone - but Marinette knew better.

She was about to shoot the she-devil a glare as she sat down, but then she stopped. Nino and Adrien had apparently beat her to it - they were both glaring daggers at Lila. Adrien, she might have expected, but Nino? Well, that was new.

Marinette sat and watched as Nino reached over and grabbed Adrien’s arm before schooling his features into a more normal look. He noticed her looking and shot her a smile before turning to the front and starting up a whispered conversation with Adrien.

Well, alright. Marinette shrugged it off - maybe Nino had a stomachache or something … or, whispered a voice in the back of her head, maybe he believes you about Lila …. or Adrien told him the truth about Lila.

But then why, Marinette wondered, was Nino sitting at Lila’s table for lunch? If he knew she was a liar, why would he want to be around her?

It was all very confusing, and Marinette did her best to shake it off and go about her day. But then came gym class.

“We are playing dodgeball,” M. D’Argencourt announced, “with the arrival of akumas, you may find yourself in a situation where you must fight with no chance of escape, and in such a situation, fast reflexes are key.”

 _You don’t know the half of it,_ Marinette thought to herself as he blew his whistle - and the game began.

Immediately, Marinette grabbed a ball from the center line and raced out of the range of the other team. Who could she go for - Lila? No, it would be too obvious, and then Lila would probably complain about how Marinette threw the ball so hard it had broken a bone or something. She decided to aim for Ivan, instead.

Lila’s cries drew the attention of everyone in the gym. Marinette’s jaw dropped as she watched Kim pelting Lila with the arsenal of balls he had gotten.

“Sorry, Lila,” Kim called with a grin as she was led off the court by Rose, “all’s fair in dodgeball and war!”

But Marinette caught how his smile was just a bit cruel, his eyes just a tad too sharp … _what was going on?_

Next was Nathaneal. They were in the art room, and Nathaneal and Marc were sitting at a table, talking over their next comic, when Lila came sauntering in.

As Marinette rolled her eyes, she saw Nathaneal, across the room, doing the same thing - and, as she watched, he did it again and again throughout his conversation with Lila, though his bangs hid his actions from Lila’s view as she prattled on about being the star of his next comic.

Marinette ruminated on all this as she lay in bed that night, but couldn’t make anything of it. Perhaps they were just coincidences - maybe Kim really was just teasing in good fun, maybe Nathaneal was just trying to get the hair out of his face.

But none of those excuses could be given for what Ivan did the next morning.

Marinette was walking into school as usual when she saw Ivan standing at the bottom of the steps, checking his phone. She was about to go up to him and ask how he was when she saw Lila approach - never mind.

And there, in front of her very eyes, was Ivan, sticking his foot out, and there was Lila, looking uninterested in whatever Juleka was mumbling to her, and down went Lila, over Ivan’s foot …

“Oh dear,” called a familiar voice, “are you alright?”

What was _Kagami_ doing here? And, more importantly, what was Kagami doing with that glass of juice?

“Oops!”

Lila shrieked in outrage. “This was a _brand-new_ romper, you-”

“Looks like you need some help,” came another voice.

 _Luka?_ Marinette rubbed her eyes - this day just kept getting weirder and weirder. 

After handing Lila a bundle of fabric, Luka, Kagami, and Ivan walked up the steps. Marinette kept watching as Lila unrolled the fabric to reveal a t-shirt that was _way_ too big for her, sporting a clown face and the words, “Stop Clowning Around!”, as well as a skirt with so much metal attached that Marinette was surprised it could even be held up.

Then she remembered - something was up, and she was going to get to the bottom of it. Scampering up the steps and into the courtyard, Marinette looked around - there! Nino, Kim, Adrien, Luka, Kagami, Nathaneal, and Ivan were huddled together under the stairs. Marinette marched over.

Nathaneal was the first to notice her approach, and then all of them were looking at her with apprehension.

“Marinette!” Adrien cried, far too loudly to be normal. “What are you doing here?”

“I go to school here,” she replied, one eyebrow inching up. “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing,” Adrien yelped.

“I meant Luka and Kagami,” Marinette said, frowning. Something was definitely up.

“Uh, Jules forgot her lunch at home,” Luka said.

“My mother thought it might be a good experience for me to see what public school is like,” Kagami said, and then wrinkled her nose at the pair of girls going up the stairs above their heads.

Marinette hummed. “And what is all this?” She gestured to the group of them.

“Um,” Kim said. “Adrien?”

“We’re, uh,” Adrien said. “Nino?”

“We’re … ”Nino looked around.

“I’m gay!” Nathaneal said.

Marinette’s eyebrow inched higher. “Yes, I know … ”

“No,” Nino said, “he’s practicing. For, um … coming out to his family!”

“He already came out to his family,” Marinette said, her eyes narrowing. “They all had dinner with Marc’s family afterwards.”

“No,” Nino said, “he’s coming out to his extended family.”

Nathaneal nodded frantically, “yeah, Grandpa has his birthday this week and everyone’s going to his house and I’m coming out to everyone!”

“Oh,” Marinette said, her eyebrow coming back down to its usual place. “You could have just said that.”

“He’s nervous about it, can you blame him?” Nino chuckled as Nathaneal elbowed him in the ribs.

“Okay, you’d better go now,” Kim said. “We have lots of planning to do.”

“Yup! We’ll see you in class,” Adrien said, waving.

“Bye, Marinette,” chorused the rest of them, Kagami giving her the tense smile Marinette had seen on Friendship Day.

She backed away from them slowly, awkwardly waving back. Something was up for sure, but they didn’t want to say. Maybe it was just Nathaneal coming out to his family.

Just then, the akuma alert started blaring, and Marinette ran for the bathroom.

“Five cookies says it’s Lila again,” she muttered to Tikki.

“That’s not fair,” Tikki said, flying out from her purse, “there’s always a 60% chance it’s Lila.”

“More like 100% chance,” Marinette returned, remembering the events of that morning. “Tikki, spots on!”

* * *

**Nathaneal:** I’m coming out? Really?

 **Nino:** I panicked, okay? And you’re the one who yelled, “I’m gay!”

 **Nathaneal:** I panicked, too!

 **Kagami:** Let us not dwell on our mistakes and focus on the task at hand. Where should we hold this party?

 **Chat Noir:** Pee pee poo poo

 **Luka:** … wtf?

 **Adrien:** maybe we could hold it at school?

 **Kim:** No, Lila could ambush us at school.

 **Luka:** maybe the houseboat?

 **Chat Noir:** pee pee poo poo diarrhea

 **Adrien:** PLAGG

 **Nino:** Adrien what

 **Kagami:** wtf

 **Kim:** OMG KAGAMI CURSED LOLOL

 **Kim:** no wait

 **Kim:** WTF

 **Luka:** what

 **Adrien:** I MEANT PARK!! 

**Adrien:** WE COULD HOLD THE PARTY AT THE PARK

 **Ivan:** oh, the park’s good

 **Nathaneal:** yeah, we’d have to make sure she doesn’t notice us tho

 **Kim:** we can just set up in the opposite corner from where her house is

 **Adrien:** All in favor of the park, say aye!

 **Nathaneal:** Aye

 **Ivan:** aye

 **Kagami:** Aye

 **Luka:** aye

 **Kim:** Aye

 **Nino:** aye

 **Chat Noir:** ur idea sux Blondie

 **Adrien:** well, do you have a better one?

 **Chat Noir:** Lila can see the park from her house 2. I say you ask Daddy Dearest to hold it at Chez Agreste

 **Adrien:** he’d never say yes

 **Chat Noir:** it’s worth a shot anyway, do it

 **Adrien:** ok I’ll ask Nathalie, brb

 **Chat Noir:** gucci. I gotta go eat sum cheese, lmk when the kid gets back

 **Nino:**...wtf just happened

 **Kim:** I think CN bullied Adrien

 **Nathaneal:** It certainly seems like they hate each other

 **Ivan:** Woa

 **Kagami:** why would Chat Noir hate Adrien? And why would Adrien hate Chat Noir?

 **Nino:** … bc Adrien likes Ladybug and Chat Noir likes Ladybug

 **Luka:** well then

 **Adrien:** Nathalie said no, sorry guys

 **Nino:** bummer, ig the park works fine tho

 **Adrien:** WAIT FATHER JUST CAME IN IT’S A YES

 **Chat Noir:** I told u so

 **Adrien:** Shut up

CHAT NOIR V ADRIEN AGRESTE: THE FIGHT FOR LADYBUG’S HEART, read the Ladyblog the next morning. Adrien turned to Plagg. “Look what you did!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> special thanks to [@bugaboo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bugaboo/pseuds/bugaboo) and [@Mara_Jade101](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mara_Jade101/pseuds/Mara_Jade101) for beta-ing this chapter :)
> 
> as always, comments and constructive crit are welcome :)

**Author's Note:**

> hi, I hope you like this oneshot/AU thing I thought up in the middle of the night :) as always, comments and constructive crit are always welcome.
> 
> Also: I am looking for beta readers. If you're interested, please let me know, thanks!


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